The present invention is directed to ceiling fan apparatus and more particularly to heating apparatus for attachment to ceiling fans.
Conventional ceiling fans are used only in warm temperatures to enhance cooling ventilation. A conventional fan is virtually useless in cool temperatures because the effect of circulating warm air near the ceiling is offset by the cooling effect of the additional air movement.
Some prior art devices have attempted to include a heating element as part of a ceiling fan to provide additional heat to the air being circulated. U.S. Pat. No. 4,508,958, granted to Kan et al. discloses a device having a circular heating element near the center of a ceiling fan with a second set of blades circulating directly above the heating element so as to direct hot air into the main air flow. Other devices such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,213 to Teal and U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,191 to Brown provide for heating elements in the fan blades to heat the air flow generated by the blades. Both such prior art devices involve complicated circuitry and apparatus integral with conventional ceiling fan apparatus must be included at the time of manufacture.